some assembly required
by splendidlyimperfect
Summary: Gray and Natsu have mixed feelings about Ikea. Shenanigans ensue. / Written for WWTDP; Week 2, Day 10; prompt: "this is not what it looks like" / **part of the 'only hope for me is you' universe, see profile for links**
1. Chapter 1

"It's a _table."_ Natsu looked up at his husband, gesturing at the booklet in his hand incredulously. "It's got a top and four legs. How can it possibly need fifty-four screws?"

Gray shrugged, peering over Natsu's shoulder at the surprisingly thick set of instructions. He had to admit, it was rather complicated for something as simple as a kitchen table. It hadn't looked that convoluted in the store.

"Why the hell did you pick this one?" Natsu grumbled, settling down cross-legged in front of the two cardboard boxes.

"I just picked the first one I saw because I wanted to get out of there!" Gray said, exasperated. "You're a menace in Ikea. You put literally everything you saw in the shopping cart – I had to get you out of that store."

"You're just jealous of my new _Vardagen."_ Natsu grinned, glancing up at the counter where a stack of cookie sheets sat. Gray rolled his eyes.

"You don't even bake," he said, poking Natsu's thigh with his toe. "I do."

"Exactly." Natsu turned back to the instructions. "Now you have brand new baking sheets with which to make me cookies. You're welcome."

"You're the worst," Gray sighed, plopping down next to Natsu and grabbing one of the boxes. He tugged it open and dumped out the contents, handing Natsu the bag of screws.

An hour later, Natsu was cursing.

"What the actual fuck do they expect me to do with these?" He swore, putting his pinched finger in his mouth. In the other hand he held up the culprit – a tiny screw that was dwarfed between his fingers. "This is ridiculous!"

"It's because you have it backwards," Gray insisted, grabbing the instruction manual and pointing at the diagram. "Look, put it in this hole."

"That's what he said," Natsu snickered, earning him a dirty look from Gray. "Okay but seriously, these aren't real tools. I have a perfectly good power drill in the closet."

"Honey, you can't use a power drill on Ikea furniture." Gray sighed, grabbing the screw from Natsu's hand and shoving him over. "Just let me do it."

"Hey! I put together vehicles for a living, there's no way I can't assemble a damn table. Gimme that." Natsu snatched the screw back and glared at Gray. "And you only call me 'honey' when you think I'm being stupid."

"I don't think you're being stupid," Gray sighed, rubbing his face. "You just…"

"Just what?" Natsu growled, brow drawing into a frown. His thumb stung, but not nearly as much as his pride.

"Nothing, it's just…" Gray gestured to the pile of screws in front of them, and the distinctly un-table-like pile of pieces in front of them. "You're not-"

"I'm not an idiot, okay? I can do this." Gray raised his hands placatingly, but Natsu shook his head, snatching the instructions up off the ground. "Look, just…I don't need your help." He huffed, staring at the steps on the paper. "Go away, I can do it alone."

"Natsu, c'mon, you're being-"

"I'm being what?" Natsu glared again and Gray sighed, tipping his head back and staring at the ceiling. "Don't roll your eyes at me." He grabbed one of the tiny screws and shoved it in what he hoped was the corresponding hole.

"Look, you've got it backwards _again-"_

"I _said_ go away!" Natsu slapped Gray's hand away from where he was working and felt only a slight pang of guilt when Gray recoiled, pushing himself to his feet. "I can do it," Natsu mumbled again.

"Fine. I'm going for groceries." Gray let out a shaky breath and then stalked away through the kitchen. Natsu sat still for several minutes, waiting until the apartment door slammed before letting the tension bleed out of his shoulders.

"Fuck," he whispered, rubbing his face. The anger and defensiveness were melting away, leaving him with only shame and regret. "Stupid." Happy appeared beside him and headbutted his arm, purring happily when Natsu scratched his ears. "Yeah, I know, I'm an asshole."

He turned back to the instructions, trying to make sense of the millions of numbers scattered across the page. When Gray got home he was going to apologize, but he was also going to have this fucking table built.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Gray looked up from where he was pushing the door open with his foot to see Natsu standing there, hands out for the grocery bags, looking contrite. Gray sighed, passing the bags over and following Natsu into the kitchen.

"Me too," he said, reaching out and pulling Natsu into a hug. His husband pressed his face into Gray's neck, sighing deeply. "I should have trusted you."

"And I was a jerk," Natsu said, sounds muffled by Gray's sweater. Gray squeezed him, then leaned back, tipping Natsu's head up and kissing him.

"We good?" he asked, running his thumb over Natsu's cheekbone. Natsu nodded, then tilted his head to the other side of the counter. Gray glanced over to see the table, fully assembled with the boxes and garbage piled against the wall. "You finished it?"

"Mmm," said Natsu, pressing a kiss to Gray's neck. Gray sighed, running his fingers through Natsu's hair.

"Wanna test it?" He asked, leaning down to nip Natsu's earlobe. His husband looked up at him, frowning.

"Eat...supper at it?" Natsu asked, then blinked when Gray raised his eyebrow. _"Oh!_ That kind of...oh. Yes. Yeah." Gray snorted and tugged Natsu up for a kiss, tightening his fingers in the pink hair and pulling his husband close.

"Gotta test how strong it is," he murmured against Natsu's lips. He ran his hands down to Natsu's hips, dipping his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans, and used them as handles to guide Natsu backward out of the kitchen. Gray shoved him none-too-gently up against the table, bringing one hand up to the back of Natsu's neck to pull him in for another deep kiss.

"Mnnnmm," Natsu groaned, hands sliding up Gray's back and then tugging at the bottom of his shirt. Gray yanked off both their shirts, throwing them to the floor and then returning to kissing Natsu while his hands wandered. He trailed his lips down his husband's neck, dipping fingers into the waistband of his jeans.

"Fuck, I love you," Gray murmured, thumbing open the button on Natsu's jeans and drawing down the zipper. He quickly tugged Natsu's pants and underwear to his knees, then drew his fingers up the underside of his husband's cock. "Doesn't take much to get you riled up."

"N-not...ahhh...not when it's you," Natsu said shakily, leaning back against the table as Gray started to stroke him. "Fffuu..." He startled as Gray dropped slowly to his knees, taking Natsu's cock into his mouth all at once. "Jesus-ahhh..." Fingers ran through Gray's dark hair as he bobbed up and down on Natsu's cock, alternating between taking him deep and lavishing attention on his head. Natsu's breathing became more and more ragged as Gray stroked the inside of his thighs, trailing his fingers up behind Natsu's balls and nudging his legs apart.

"I wanna bend you over and fuck you on this table," Gray murmured, pulling off of Natsu's cock. Natsu swore, tipping his head back and exhaling shakily. "That okay?"

"Y-yes, fuck, yes, pleas-aahh!" Gray's fingers stroked over his ass and Natsu's fingers tightened in his husband's hair unconsciously. "F-fuck, lube...bedr..."

"I've got it covered," Gray said, grinning up at Natsu and pulling a packet out of his jeans pocket. "Was planning on doing you over the couch later, but this works out even better." He tore open the packet with his teeth and spread the lube over his fingers, then returned them slowly to Natsu's entrance.

"Y-you're prepared...ahhh...for anythi...hahhh..." Natsu tensed as Gray slipped one finger inside of him, but quickly relaxed, focusing on the sensation of Gray's lips and tongue returning to his cock. _Gods_ , Gray was good at this. One finger was quickly joined by another, and then another, and then his leg was up over Gray's shoulder and Gray was fingering him so hard he thought he was going to pass out.

"As much as I'd love to do this all day," Gray murmured, pulling off Natsu's cock and kissing the tip gently, "I need to be inside you." He stood up slowly, withdrawing his fingers and pulling Natsu in for another deep kiss.

"Off," Natsu grunted, tugging at the button on Gray's jeans and shoving his pants to the ground. "No underwear today?" He grinned, leaning up and nipping at Gray's neck. "I like it." He wrapped his hand around Gray's cock and stroked him a few times, enjoying the stuttered sighs it drew from his husband.

"Turn around," Gray growled, grabbing Natsu's hips and flipping him until he was facing the table. He grabbed a handful of pink hair and shoved Natsu's face until it was pressed against the wood and his ass was up in the air. "Mmmmgod you're amazing." Natsu groaned as Gray's finger traced his entrance again, then was replaced by the head of his cock. "You look so good like this," Gray whispered, pressing forward slowly.

"M-more," Natsu panted, palms flat against the surface of the table, wincing at the sensation of Gray pulling his hair. He groaned at the _painpleasure_ of Gray pushing into him, accentuated by the litany of curses that were spilling from Gray's lips. "Fuck, Gray," Natsu hissed as Gray's hips hit his ass.

"Look at you," Gray murmured, sliding his hands up Natsu's back and dragging his nails back down, leaving red lines across his skin. "Fuck, I love you like this." He ran one hand up to the back of Natsu's neck and brought the other over to pin Natsu's wrist.

Natsu swore as Gray pulled out of him and snapped back in, driving his hips into the edge of the table. Gray made a concerned sound but Natsu shook his head, urging him to do it again. Gray groaned and thrust forward again, squeezing the back of Natsu's neck.

"I love...ahhnn...watching myself," Gray panted, snapping forward again, "...sliding...aaah...into you." Natsu groaned, cheeks pink with embarrassment and exertion. Gray brought both hands down to Natsu's hips, grasping them tightly as he started to move faster, grunting loudly with each thrust.

 _"B-baise moi plus fort,"_ Natsu ground out, feeling his calves tense as he pushed himself up on his toes. Gods, Gray hadn't even touched him yet and he was ready to come. Gray's fingers gripped his hips so tightly that Natsu expected it to bruise tomorrow, and it was perfect. He made a sound of disappointment when Gray slowed down, eventually pulling out.

"Turn around," Gray said gently, grabbing Natsu around the waist and lifting him up onto the table. "I wanna see your face." He pulled Natsu in for a sloppy kiss, all tongue and teeth and gasping breaths. "Lie down."

Natsu lay back on the table, feeling a momentary flash of trepidation flow through him that was quickly dismissed by the sensation of Gray sliding back into him. He gasped at the different angle, shifting himself on the table as Gray grabbed his thighs and started to thrust again.

"F-fuck, Gray, y-you..." Natsu threw his head back as Gray reached between them and began to stroke him, matching the pace his hips set as he thrust into Natsu over and over. "Ghnhhh, ah, you're...y-yeah..." The familiar tightness and sense of release was building and he gripped Gray's forearm tightly.

"N-natsu, _calice_ , I c-ca...aaah!" Gray thrust one last time, burying himself into Natsu as his eyes squeezed shut and his body tensed. Watching Gray's face transform pushed Natsu over the edge and he shouted, hips arching off the table as he came, fingers tight on Gray's arms, and-

 _CRACK_.

 _Fuck_. Natsu only had time to think the one word before the surface beneath him wobbled unsteadily, then slid to one side, cracking again and tossing him to the ground. Gray made an undignified sound as he tumbled forward, landing partway on top of Natsu, in between two sections of broken table.

There was a long silence, broken only by the sound of several screws falling to the ground and rolling across the floor. Gray's expression was inscrutable as he hovered over Natsu, both of them still panting and coming down from their highs.

Gray was the first to say something. "I don't way to say 'I told you s-',"

"Yes, you _absolutely_ want to say 'I told you so', you smug bastard." Natsu groaned, pushing himself up on his elbows and glaring at the broken pieces of wood on either side of him. "I'll give it to you, though – this is a disaster."

Gray burst out laughing, flopping over onto his back in the middle of the mess, head tipped back and eyes closed. Natsu tried to resist, but the sound was contagious and soon he found himself giggling as well, dropping down next to his husband.

"We fucked it..." Gray snickered, gasping for air, "...to pieces!" He turned to Natsu and shook his head. "Did you even read the rest of the instructions?"

Natsu pouted, turning to rest his head on Gray's chest. "I'm dyslexic," he grumbled. He could feel Gray snort beneath him.

"The instructions are pictures, dumbass," he retorted, wrapping an arm around his husband. Natsu sighed, still letting out the occasional giggle they cuddled together, sticky and dishevelled.

"You know what this means," he said after a moment, nuzzling Gray's neck.

"What?" Gray asked, humming happily as Natsu pressed a kiss below his ear.

"We have to go back to Ikea."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Snowflake?"

Gray leaned around the corner of the kitchen and peered into the living room where Natsu was sitting with his feet up on the coffee table. "Mhmm?" His husband looked up at him with raised eyebrows – a look that always spelled trouble. "Y'know what, on second thought, no."

"I haven't even—"

"Doesn't matter," Gray interrupted, gesturing at Natsu with a spatula. "You're giving me the _look_ , and the last time I agreed to something when you did that, we both ended up with hives and the glitter didn't come out of the carpet for a _year."_ Natsu snorted.

"Okay, but you have to admit it was fun."

"I am admitting _nothing,"_ Gray insisted. "And the answer is still—"

"It's not me asking," Natsu insisted, waving his phone in the air. "Sting texted me. Him and Ryos are moving outta the dorms and into a real place, and they wanted to know if we could help them with some furniture."

Gray gave Natsu a suspicious look. That didn't sound like anything particularly dangerous, terrifying or frustrating. "They need the SUV?" Natsu nodded. "So why the lo— see, you're doing it again!" Natsu burst out laughing, burying his face in the couch. Gray blinked. "Wait a minute..."

"Look, don't be mad but I already said yes." Natsu grinned at Gray who glared at him, fingers tightening around the spatula.

"So where exactly are we _going_ to get this furniture?" His words were short and he groaned at the shit-eating expression on Natsu's face. "No. No way. I said I was never setting foot in that goddamn store ever ag—"

"Hon, it's been two years," Natsu said placatingly, still smiling. "And it _was_ pretty funny. I'll be on my best behaviour this time, promise." Gray snorted at that, gesturing to the place where they _still_ didn't have a kitchen table. Natsu giggled and Gray sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Fine," he grumbled, glaring at his husband. "I guess we're going back to Ikea."

* * *

By the time they walked into the store on Saturday morning, Gray was already exasperated. The parking lot had been hellish, and they'd ended up walking nearly five minutes to get to the doors. Sting and Ryos were standing near the escalator and Gray waved to them.

"Thank you so much," Ryos said as Gray pulled him into a hug. "I know it's a bit of a pain but—"

"Nah, its fine," Natsu said cheerfully, throwing an arm around Sting's shoulders. "This is Gray's favorite store, right?" Gray shot him a look that clearly said _keep it up and I will fucking murder you._ Natsu stuck out his tongue, then nodded to the escalator. "Shall we go have breakfast?"

Ten minutes later, Gray was staring at Natsu with an expression that somehow managed to combine frustration, incredulousness, and defeat.

"How," he said slowly, looking at the table in front of them, "did you manage to spend thirty-seven dollars on four one-dollar breakfasts?" Instead of the usual small plate of bacon and eggs for each of them, there was nearly three times that between Natsu and Sting.

Natsu gave Gray a pitiful look, reaching for his fork and sighing. Before he could say anything, Gray interrupted him.

"Un-uh," he said, shaking his head. "I know exactly what you're doing. That look might work on Ultear, but you only get to play the 'childhood trauma' card a limited number of times on me, and you've used it all up for this week." Ryos watched the interaction with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smile on his lips. Sting wasn't paying attention, having already polished off two plates of food.

"What? When were the other times?" Natsu protested. Ryos noted he didn't dispute the fact that he regularly took advantage of other people's pity.

 _"I need the last Oreo,"_ Gray said, in an eerily accurate imitation of Natsu. _"My foster parents never bought me cookies."_ Ryos tried not to giggle as Gray waved his hands in the air. _"I should get to pick the movie, the group home never had Netflix."_ Natsu burst out laughing, waving his fork at Gray.

"All right, I _may_ have been over-exaggerating," he admitted, digging into his pancake and shoving a piece in his mouth. "But I mean, you can't return food? So you should prob'ly stop lecturing and eat something before it disappears."

Breakfast passed amicably, and Gray wasn't surprised that they managed to polish off all the food, in addition to about three cups of coffee each. Now, standing at the entrance to the actual store, he realized what a terrible idea it had been to let Natsu have that much caffeine.

"Do not touch those," he said, seeing Natsu move to follow Ryos over to the carts. "We are buying _nothing."_ Natsu pouted.

"But we need—"

"We do NOT need," Gray interrupted, grabbing Natsu's arm and guiding him towards the entrance. Natsu pulled half-heartedly against his grip.

"But—"

"Natsu Dubois-Tremblay, we are leaving this store with exactly _zero things_ and that is final." Natsu sighed dramatically. Gray could see Sting and Ryos from the corner of his eyes, and he was fairly certain they were both snickering.

"It's just—" Natsu tried again.

"If I end up," Gray ground out, glaring at his husband, "with one more Swedish kitchen accessory with a name I can't pronounce, I am going to bring you back here and abandon you."

"You wouldn't," Natsu gasped, clutching Gray's arm and laughing. Gray sighed, dragging him through the door. "Waitwaitwait," Natsu said suddenly, perking up. Gray gave him a suspicious look as Natsu grinned and added, "what about bathroom stuff?"

* * *

"It's like having toddlers!" Ryos threw up his hands in frustration, watching Sting and Natsu dart between pieces of brightly colored furniture in their race to the next showroom. "They're worse than the girls!" Gray laughed, taking over the cart and following the brightly lit path through the store.

"It doesn't get better," he commented, shaking his head. "At least, I don't think it does. He's just as much of an immature shit now as he was seven years ago."

"But you love him," Ryos replied, giving Gray a sideways look. "How come you hate this store so much?" Gray groaned, closing his eyes.

"I'll tell you when you're older," he muttered, earning an indignant grumble from Ryos.

"I'm twenty-one," Ryos huffed, tugging on the cart to navigate it around a tight turn. There was shouting from ahead of them, and they both looked at each other, rolling their eyes. "So?"

"There was an... incident," Gray said eventually, shaking his head and laughing. "Ask Natsu to tell you about the _Ekedalen."_

There was another excited shout and they picked up the pace a bit, passing a row of computer chairs that were still spinning. Rounding the corner, they found themselves next to one of the displays, where Natsu was pointing into the bedroom and whispering something to Sting.

"Sting!" The blonde boy's head whipped around and he grinned sheepishly at Ryos, one foot halfway up the bunkbed steps. "Seriously? There are signs that literally say 'do not do the stupid thing you're about to do'."

Natsu turned to them and shrugged, grinning. "Dyslex—"

"Shut the hell up," Gray grumbled, grabbing Natsu's arm and pulling him toward the cart. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but didn't you promise to be on your best behavior today?"

"We just wanted to see if it was comfortable for a grown up!" Sting insisted, taking a peek over the top of the bed before stepping down and rejoining his boyfriend. Ryos gave him a look but didn't argue when Sting kissed him on the cheek.

"Lucky for you two, that's irrelevant," Gray said, passing the cart over to Sting and taking Natsu's hand in his. "'cause you're both children."

"Hey, I resent that," Sting said, letting Ryos wrap an arm around his waist as they continued through the store. "Plus, it was Natsu's idea."

"Way to throw me under the bus," Natsu grumbled, shooting a half-hearted glare at Sting.

"You _are_ the... adult-ier... adult?" Ryos frowned at the wording, then looked back and forth between Sting and Natsu. He shrugged, pulling out his phone and swiping to their shopping list. "Anyway. The only thing we have left to get is a duvet cover and a kitchen table."

* * *

"How did we manage to lose them again?" Ryos sighed, peering around the corner and shaking his head. "I'm worried we're going to get kicked out of the store at this point."

Gray laughed, helping Ryos bundle the duvet cover into the cart. "Natsu can be childish, but he's not _that_ immature..." He trailed off, chewing his lip. "I don't _think_ he's that immature, but it seems like the two of them together makes it worse."

"I'd blame Natsu for being a bad influence, but I know Sting is just as terrible," Ryos smiled fondly. "It's nice to see him like this, though." Gray frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"He's... so much more anxious with people he doesn't know," Ryos explained as they passed into the wardrobe section. "Even starting work at the garage with Natsu, he had a panic attack the night before because he just wants people to like him, and he worries they won't."

"Natsu _loves_ him," Gray said emphatically, stopping and turning to look at Ryos. "And I think he's probably said it, but if he needs to hear it from someone else... the first day Sting worked with him Natsu _would not shut up_ about how cool he was for like three days."

"Really?" Ryos' voice was soft and a smile crept onto his face. "That's... I'll tell him that. He just gets... it's all irrational, and he knows it, but he worries that people don't like him. Or that they just... tolerate him." He sighed.

"Well I hope he knows tha—" Gray paused, frowning. "Did you hear that?"

A faint banging sound could be heard from somewhere nearby, and when Gray heard Natsu's voice calling his name, he groaned, dragging a hand over his face.

"What the _hell_ have you done, you little..." he trailed off, moving toward the wardrobe that was the source of the noise. It was closed tightly, but there was muffled thumping and cursing coming from inside.

"Having fun in there?" he asked, knocking on the door. There was another loud thump and a groan.

"Gray, aughh, can you open the door?"

"Can I... what?" Gray looked over at Ryos and grinned. "Sorry, I can't hear you, there's too much noise."

"Fuck you, I know you can hear me, let us ouuuuut." Natsu grunted, and Gray assumed he kicked at the door since it rattled a little. "Please?"

"Please, huh?" Gray leaned against the door, preventing it from opening even if Natsu was able to reach the handle. "I'm not feeling particularly charitable right now, y'know." He could hear his husband groaning. "And, hilariously enough, there's a sign right here. One of the ones Ryos was telling you about earlier. You wanna know what it says?"

"...I hate you."

"It says _Please do not climb on the Kvikne."_ Ryos was full-on laughing now, leaning on the cart as he giggled. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

He thought he could hear Natsu whisper something that sounded suspiciously like _appeal to your boyfriend instead._

"Uh, Ryos?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired boy as Sting spoke tentatively. "You're the light of my life and I may have accidentally made a terrible decision that I regret?" Ryos shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes as he giggled.

"Yeah, Ryos is not available right now," Gray said, trying to contain his own laughter. "Your combined idiocy has overwhelmed him and he's currently rethinking his life choices." He rapped his knuckles against the door and stood up, shaking his head.

"All right, you made your point you asshole, let us outta here," Natsu grumbled. "I don't wanna die in Ikea and spend my life haunting grumpy jerks like you." There was a pause and then he added, "I'm sorry."

"You two are ridiculous," Gray muttered, tugging the door open and immediately bursting into laughter again at the sight. Natsu and Sting were both crammed into the smallest part of the closet, chest-to-chest, and their faces were uncomfortably close.

"Um, sir?" Gray stood up straight, turning to see a man in a bright yellow shirt smiling uncomfortably at him. "Is there..." He leaned around Gray to see Sting and Natsu packed into the wardrobe, faces inches from each other, and he immediately turned bright red. "Oh, um, sir, this is not... we're going to..."

"Oh gods, no, this isn't what it looks like," Gray said hastily, reaching out and grabbing his husband's sleeve. He yanked on it, pulling Natsu out of the wardrobe so that he fell forward against Gray, and Sting was able to stumble out onto his feet. "They're just..."

"Idiots," Ryos supplied, grabbing his boyfriend's hand and dragging him over to the cart. "They're idiots."

"It was just..." Gray hesitated, uncertain if telling the Ikea employee that his husband and friend were hiding in an armoire to jump out at them was the best idea. "They were..."

"We were gonna jump out at them," Natsu interrupted, cheeks pink with embarrassment as he leaned into his husband. "We, uh, didn't see the sign." The employee looked uncertain. Part of Gray wanted to help Natsu out of this, and another, more vindictive part of him was kind of enjoying the fact that his idiocy was finally coming to its logical conclusion.

"All... right..." The man frowned at Natsu, glancing between him and Sting, then shrugged and gave them a bright smile. "Please let me know if you need any help finding anything!" Then he turned and quickly took off back in the direction he'd came from.

There was a moment of absolute silence where neither Sting nor Natsu would look at their respective partners, but when Natsu finally met Gray's eyes, it was over. They both dissolved into a giggling fit, leaning on each other as they threw their heads back and laughed. It spread quickly to Sting and Ryos, and soon the four of them were laughing hysterically in the aisle.

"We'd better get out of here before he comes back and changes his mind," Ryos said eventually, wiping tears from his eyes and pressing his forehead into Sting's shoulder. "I think we've got everything we need. Let's go before these two cause any more problems."

"I'm with you there," Gray said, smiling fondly at Natsu and gesturing for him to follow Ryos out of the section.

Ryos pressed a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek, then gestured for him to take the cart. "You are staying right here," he added, squeezing Sting's hands. "No more wandering off."

"Hey, if I stick with you can we stop for ice cream?" Natsu asked, wrapping Gray's arm around his shoulders and leaning back for a kiss. Gray rolled his eyes as they made their way to the tills and towards the exit.

"If you were a toddler I'd say absolutely not," Gray replied, tugging Natsu closer to him. Ahead of them, Ryos and Sting appeared to be having a similar conversation.

"Good thing I'm not a toddler then," Natsu replied, sighing contentedly. He wrapped his arm around Gray's waist and drew soft circles over his hipbone. "If I _was_ , you've let me play in Småland."

"Oh my _god_ , you're incorrigible," Gray laughed, shaking his head.

"So that's a yes to the ice cream, then?"


End file.
